


Of Shadows and Silver Blood

by GaeilgeRua



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: hp_creatures, Creature Fic, F/M, Mystery, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Rare Pair, creature: unicorn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-07-18 16:19:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16122239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaeilgeRua/pseuds/GaeilgeRua
Summary: Being the rookies on the team means you get the cases no one else wants. Even if you ARE The Chosen One. But Harry’s about to learn that some cases lead to more than just a criminal.





	Of Shadows and Silver Blood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nightfalltwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightfalltwen/gifts).



> **Prompt provided by** : nightfalltwen  
>  **Scenario** : "You don't understand! I can't let it die. If I let it die then everyone is right about me!" she cried, cradling the baby's golden head in her lap. (Someone is killing unicorns in England.)
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** This creation is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offence is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.  
>  **Notes:** First off, I’d like to thank our amazing mods for all their hard work. Thank you so much to JG for her phenomenal beta skills and helping me with the title and so much else. I also want to send out a huge thank you to JE for reading over the beginning of this and telling me that it didn’t suck. If there are any errors after my beta looked it over, they are my own. And last, but not least, thank you to  nightfalltwen for their wonderful prompt and the fun pairings to choose from!

_Wednesday, 3 September 2003_

The last few years had been very interesting for him. He killed Voldemort and ended the war, went back to Hogwarts to finish his schooling with the rest of his classmates, and recently graduated from the Auror Academy. Now, he and his fellow rookies dealt with paperwork day in and day out.

Today had started out like any other, until the mid-Monday morning staff meeting.

“Okay, you lot, settle down,” Head Auror Robards called out as the room steadily became louder as more and more Aurors zoned out. He waited for everyone's attention to return to him before continuing. “We have one more new case to go over, and then we'll be done. Think you all can survive that?”

There was a smattering of grumbles as everyone shifted their attention back to their boss.

“Thank you,” Gawain said as he opened the file in his hands. “We have a case that’s been brought to me by the head of the Magical Creatures department. I know a couple of you have friends that work in that department, so you may have already heard some of what’s in this file, but they’ve received a series of reports stating unicorns have been found dead.”

Letting the rest of Robards’ words wash over him, Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair as unpleasant memories from his first year came to the forefront of his mind. As he tried to push those images back where they'd been for the last twelve years, he looked across the table and locked eyes with Draco Malfoy, a fellow rookie. Harry instantly recognised the same haunted look he knew was etched across his features.

Robards calling Harry’s name, pulled him back to the present, “Potter and Longbottom, I am putting the two of you on this case.”

“But, sir,” one of the senior Aurors Harry didn't know exclaimed. “They're both only rookies.”

“And they both have previous experience with unicorns,” Robards replied.

“Plus, a unicorn wouldn't come within ten feet of you, Proudfoot,” Dawlish added.

Harry snickered from beside John.

“They wouldn't come within ten feet of most of us,” Robards chuckled.

Many of the other Aurors laughed at both comments.

Harry slid down in his chair, silently hoping for a hole to open below him and swallow him whole. He chanced a glance at Neville on his other side to see that he was giving Ron a run for his money in the blush intensity department.

Seeing their reactions, Robards turned to them both. “Nothing to be ashamed of gentlemen, in fact, you're both at an advantage because of it. I'm going to give you this file to read over, and tomorrow morning I want you to report to level four to meet with your MC contact.”

Raising his chin, Neville asked one of the questions on Harry's own mind. “Do you know who our contact is?”

“No, just that she's their lead for this case.” He handed the file to Neville. “I’m not sure what all is included here as I’ve only just glanced through it, but there's a lot to read through, so you best get started.”

“Thank you, sir,” Neville replied, taking the offered folder and setting it on the table between the two of them.

“Good luck.” Robards turned to face the rest of the group. “If no one has any questions, then I think we're done here.”

A few moments of silence followed his comment before Robards nodded and turned to leave the conference room. “Have a good day, everyone.”

The other Aurors quickly filed out after their boss, but Harry and Neville stayed behind. As they waited for the last few stragglers to leave, Harry noticed Draco was still seated across from them.

Before he could say anything, Draco addressed them both, “I know who your contact is for the case. It's Pansy.” At the shocked expressions on both Harry and Neville's faces, Draco stood up and sighed. “She may have started there as part of her punishment from the Wizengamot, but she actually enjoys what she does. Also, she's not the same witch either of you remember. Please remember that.”

Neville nodded silently as Harry said, “Thank you, Malfoy.”

“Good luck, Potter. Longbottom.” He nodded at both of them before exiting the conference room and closing the door behind himself.

“Shall we,” Neville suggested gesturing to the file sitting innocently on the table.

“No time like the present,” Harry replied, opening the file and pulling out documents to read.

* * *

_Thursday, 4 September 2003_

The next morning found both Harry and Neville sitting in the little reception room of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures waiting for Pansy to meet them.

Harry leaned over the armrests separating them and whispered, “So what did Hermione say last night?”

Neville turned to face his partner. “About what?”

“Pansy.”

“Oh, she said pretty much the same thing as Malfoy. The two of them have worked together on a couple of cases, so other than Malfoy she’s the one that would know her best.”

“True,” Harry replied as the witch in question exited her office and walked down the hall towards them, and they both stood as she approached.

“Longbottom, Potter, thank you both for your help,” Pansy said as she neared them. “If you’ll follow me, we can talk in my office.”

The trio was silent as Pansy led the way back down the corridor.

As she opened the door to her office and stepped through, she asked, “Would either of you like something to drink?”

“I’m good right now, thank you,” Harry replied as he entered her office.

“Same here,” Neville agreed as he followed Harry.

Closing the door behind them, Pansy nodded. Walking around her desk, she gestured to the two chairs across from her. “Please have a seat.”

Once everyone was settled, the dark-haired witch didn’t waste any time in getting down to business. “I know you only found out about this case yesterday afternoon, but I’m hoping one of you have an idea of where to go with this case.”

Looking into her dark eyes, Harry frowned and sighed, “Well…”

* * *

_Friday, 31 October 2003_

That conversation had happened nearly two months ago, and it seemed like they were not any closer to figuring out what was going on.

About a half hour ago, Harry had received a panicked Floo-call from Pansy, saying her younger brother had been out camping along the border of their property with friends all of whom had graduated from Hogwarts a few months previous when they were attacked by an unknown force. The group of boys had quickly returned to the Parkinson home covered in bumps and bruises and to Pansy’s utter dismay, the shiny, silvery blood of a unicorn.

After calling in reinforcements, Harry quickly apparated to the gates of the Parkinson estate where he was met by a house-elf. “Do you know where I can find Pansy?” Harry questioned as soon as he landed.

Before the elf could reply, four more pops sounded behind Harry as they were joined by more Aurors.

“Miss is in forest,” the elf replied, pointing to the forest to the left of the large manor home.

“Thank you,” Harry said before turning to the others. “If you all will go with the elf and speak with Pansy’s brother and his friends, I’m going to go find Parkinson.”

“You shouldn’t be on your own, Potter,” Dawlish replied.

“Neville is on his way, so when he gets here, send him to find us,” Harry explained as he started to make his way towards the forest in the distance. “Once I find Pansy, I’ll send up a signal.”

“We don’t know for sure if the attacker has left the grounds, so be careful, Potter,” Dawlish called behind him as the young wizard sprinted across the grounds.

He reached the forest’s edge and took a deep breath as he squinted into the darkening forest in front of him. He a few steps forward before coming to a stop and letting his ears and eyes adjust to their surroundings. Scrubbing a hand over his tired face, he pulled out his wand. Concentrating on Pansy, he held his wand flat on the palm of his hand. “Point me,” he whispered. His wand spun a couple times before coming to a stop pointing to the northeast.

Using the spell and listening to the sounds around him, Harry was able to locate Pansy and the fallen unicorn. She was holding the creature in her arms, rocking back and forth. He could tell she was saying something but was currently too far away to hear any words. 

Before stepping into the clearing, he raised his wand and sent red sparks into the air. He quickly scanned the area surrounding them and noticed many things out of place, disturbed, or even left behind. Almost like the attacker was interrupted. This was what they needed in this case, and hopefully, the boys would be able to shed even more light on what happened.

Stepping closer, he finally got his first glimpse of the unicorn, and his heart sank. Brilliant golden hair was matted with sticky silvery blood. A gash could be seen down the side of its neck. When he was only a few feet away, he finally heard what Pansy had been whispering.

“It's okay. You'll be okay.” Her sobs increased as the unicorn's breathing became more laboured. “Please be okay. You have to…”

“Pansy,” Harry said stepping even closer.

The witch startled at Harry’s voice.

“I don't think there's anything you can do for it.”

“No!” She yelled back. “We can save him!”

He shook his head sadly. “I'm not sure that's possible.”

She turned away from him. "You don't understand! I can't let him die. If I let him die then everyone is right about me!" she cried, cradling the baby's golden head in her lap.

“Parkinson,” Harry whispered as he kneeled down next to her. When she didn’t respond, he reached out and touched her elbow. “Pansy.”

Dark, watery eyes shot up to meet Harry’s bright green ones.

He smiled sadly as he continued now that he had her attention, “No one will think you had anything to do with this. Or any of the other attacks. Anyone with half a brain would be able to see how much you enjoy what you do in caring for magical, and sometimes some not so magical, creatures.”

“We have to help him,” she whispered.

“And we will,” Harry replied. He sat on the forest floor next to her. “I know you have the training to help him, so what I need you to do right now is take a few deep breaths.”

As Pansy breathed deeply, Harry joined her.

“I’m okay now,” she said after a few moments.

“Good,” Harry replied. “Now, what do you need me to do?”

“Will you hold him while I cast?”

“Of course.” Harry scooted over to take over in Pansy’s position as she moved around to the other side of the unicorn. He didn't know how successful they'd be, but over the past couple of months, he’d learned a lot about Pansy Parkinson. And one of the things he learned was that she was very much like his best friend. You don't get on her bad side.

* * *

Hours later, Harry, Neville, and Pansy entered the front hall of the Parkinson home.

Her younger brother ran through a doorway to the left and looked at her expectantly, but then took in the sight of Harry and Pansy covered in silvery blood and his face fell. “He didn’t make it?”

Pansy smiled gently, but before she could say anything, Harry spoke up, “Actually, your sister was able to stabilise him with a little bit of help from one of the staff members Neville brought in from the nearby unicorn reserve.”

“He’s okay?”

“He’s not completely out of the woods, Ren, but with time he should be,” Pansy replied.

“I know you've already talked with the other Aurors, but if you’ll give us a few minutes to clean up, Neville and I want to speak with you and your friends, also,” Harry explained.

“Yes, sir,” Ren replied.

“Harry, Neville,” Pansy said as she started to walk further into her home, “if you’ll follow me, we have a washroom just down the hall.”

The two Aurors silently followed Pansy down the hall to clean up. Once they were clean, they returned to the parlour where Ren had come from.

“Miss Parkinson, ” Dawlish said as the trio entered. “Your brother tells me you were able to save the unicorn?”

“Yes,” she replied walking over to where her brother was sitting on the sofa and sitting down next to him. “He’s stable for now, and both mother and colt are being transferred to the reserve while he continues to heal.”

Neville spoke up for the first time since entering the house. “The magizoologist said he would catalogue all of the colt’s injuries and the spells and potions he and Pansy used and send us a copy along with anything they do for him in the future.”

“That’s good,” Dawlish said. “I know whoever is behind the attacks has been damn good at covering their tracks, but did you see anything out there? Any kind of evidence that we might be able to use?”

“Actually, yes,” Harry replied. “Once the staff member arrived, Neville and I were able to contain the scene and gathered as much evidence as we could. They were definitely sloppy this time since they were interrupted by Ren and his friends.” He turned to look at Pansy’s brother and his friends. “You lot were fortunate that none of you were seriously injured.”

“Yes, they were,” Mrs Parkinson said from the other side of her son. “Do you have any idea of who is behind this?”

“We’ve had a few leads that ended up as dead ends, but once we get this evidence back to the Ministry and have a chance to analyse it, then we might have a better idea of who we’re dealing with,” Harry replied. He turned back to Ren before glancing around at the other boys. “Did any of you get a good look at who attacked you?”

Most of the teenagers shook their heads, but one nodded his head. “I did.”

“What is your name?” Harry asked.

“Jarred Warrington, sir,” he replied.

Harry held out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mister Warrington.” After Jarred returned Harry’s handshake, Harry asked him what he saw out in the forest.

“I didn’t get a great look at him, but I could tell he was white, had very short dark hair and was taller than I am,” Jarred explained. Glancing at Pansy, he shifted uncomfortably.

She noticed. “What is it?”

“He said something about his sister’s murderer…”

Pansy paled as silence descended over the group at his words.

Harry frowned and turned to face the dark-haired witch. “Pansy, it almost sounds like it's Amycus Carrow.”

She slowly looked up at Harry. “That’s because it is Carrow.” Standing up, she made her way over to the darkened windows. “After what I did in the Great Hall, the Slytherins were sent down to our dormitory. Well, I was one of the last to leave, and as we descended the stairs, I came across the Carrows. And something told me to send them away from where I’d last seen you Harry, so I sent them to the North Tower. I later learned that when the tower collapsed, Alecto was crushed by the rubble.”

Mrs Parkinson gasped. “Pansy! Why would you do something like that?”

“Mum, you weren't there. You don't know what it was like with those two. Yes, those of us in Slytherin didn't have as many problems as the other houses, but when the others started disappearing, we became fair game.”

“Why didn't you say anything sooner?”

“What would you have done?”

Mrs Parkinson turned at her son’s question, but before she could say anything, Pansy added, “It’s not like you could take us out of school. We would’ve been made huge targets if you had.”

When Pansy's mum didn't say anything else, Harry turned back to the young man who had given them their first big break in the case in months. “It looks like we now know who we’re looking for, we just need to figure out how to find him. Thank you, Mr Warrington, for your help,” he told him. To all of the teenagers, he asked, “Have all of you been checked over by a healer yet?”

“Yes,” Mrs Parkinson replied. “Our family healer was here earlier.”

“Okay, good. Mr Warrington, if you wouldn't mind coming in sometime tomorrow, I’d like to get a copy of your memory of the event if that's okay.” After Jarred nodded in agreement, Harry turned to the other Aurors. “Were you all able to get everyone's statement?”

Dawlish nodded. “Other than Mr Warrington's, which we now have, we spoke with the rest before you arrived.”

“Great. Thank you.” He looked back at the teenagers. “You're all released to go home, if we need anything else from any of you, we'll let you know. Or if you remember something, no matter how small, contact us.”

“Yes, sir,” the young men replied.

“Good. I think we're done here, but we will be in contact. Thank you for your cooperation.” Harry turned to Pansy. “See you tomorrow morning, yeah?”

“Yes,” she replied smiling. “Thank you for… thank you for your help out there, Harry. It meant a lot to me.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Anytime.”

* * *

_Tuesday, 11 November 2003_

“I didn't do anything! You have the wrong wizard!”

As Amycus continued to rant and rave, Harry patiently waited for the wizard before him to quiet down.

Once he was quiet, Harry opened the file in front of him. “Mr Carrow, you say you're being wrongly accused, but I know different. Not only do I have witness statements and memories in regards to your time during the Second War, but I also have a witness to one of your attacks on not only a unicorn but also a group of unarmed teenagers.”

Amycus’ eyes widened, and his nostrils flared. “My sister is dead, while that bitch is still alive! She killed my sister! It’s only fitting she lose her brother! She sent us to that tower on purpose!”

“No, a wall being blown apart by your own brethren is what killed your sister. So it was friendly fire, not Pansy.”

“No! It was that bitch! She deserves to suffer as I have!”

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. “I'm pretty sure there are several families, along with current and former students from Hogwarts that would say the same thing about you.”

Amycus snarled. “Spoiled brats deserved everything they got.”

“Hm,” Neville mused from the cuffed wizard's other side. “Is that so?”

“Yes! They stole magic from us purebloods!”

Harry snorted. It still amazed him that so many of Voldemort's followers believed that outrageous line of thought. Everyone knew that you couldn't steal another person's magic, but apparently, some forgot that in light of Voldemort's offer of the world and glory.

He shoved open the doors that led the transportation room to its counterpart at Azkaban. Harry and Neville dragged Amycus behind them as he continued to shout his innocence in hopes someone would listen.

“I'm surprised you haven't silenced him yet,” Robards mused as the trio came closer.

Harry shrugged. “I figured it'd be better to let him think someone was actually listening and cared.”

“Plus, his rantings have been fairly entertaining if quite deranged,” Neville added.

“Well, we have the bastard now, and he's off to Azkaban to await his trial.” Robards turned to the man between Harry and Neville. “Do you have an advocate?”

“I don't need one,” Amycus hissed. “I've done nothing wrong!”

“Right,” Robards replied. “Well, you best be on your way, Carrow, the warden is waiting for you on the other side.”

“But I’m innocent!” Amycus screamed as he renewed his struggle between Harry and Neville. “Innocent I tell ya!”

“The Wizengamot will be the judge of that, Carrow,” Harry said as he and Neville moved forward and sat him down in the chair that would whisk him off to the far north.

“Off you go, Carrow,” Neville added.

The two Aurors stepped back as Robards activated the Portkey and in the blink of an eye, Amycus Carrow was gone.

“About bloody time,” a fourth voice said as Pansy Parkinson’s head suddenly appeared in thin air.

Robards turned to see the young witch slip the rest of Harry's invisibility cloak from her shoulders. He turned to glare at Harry. “This wasn't approved, Potter.”

Harry grinned sheepishly. “I know, sir, but Pansy had every right to see that we caught him. We just knew that Carrow would throw an even bigger fit if he saw her hence the cloak. It won't happen again.”

“See that it doesn't, Potter,” Robards said as he made his way to the entrance. “Longbottom and Potter, you lot need to finish any paperwork you have left, and then you can leave for the rest of the day.”

“Yes, sir,” Neville replied.

“Thanks, ” Harry added.

“Miss Parkinson, gentlemen, have a good day.”

The trio watched as Gawain Robards exited the room.

Neville nudged Harry. “Why don't you two take off early? There isn't much left for paperwork, after all.”

Harry turned to his partner. “Are you sure? Don't you want to get home to Hermione?”

“She's in a new training course, so she’ll be home later.” He looked at Pansy and grinned. “You two go have fun.”

Pansy shoved Harry's cloak in his right hand and then grabbed his left. “Thanks, Longbottom! We owe you!”


End file.
